5 answers
Venus
Student
Denton, Texas
1
Question
Asked
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Can you get a job in cybersecurity with just tech certificates instead of pursing a bachelors.
Going to college is time-consuming (4 years) and expensive. Would I be able to break into tech with just certificates and experience? If so what certificates are good for cybersecurity?
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5 answers
Paul Vettoretti
AT&T - Technical Solutions Consultant
8
Answers
Dallas, Texas
Updated
Paul’s Answer
Absolutely. Getting certs and experience can go a long way. I would get as many free certs as I could. That will not just build a list but educate in many areas. I'm not sure which ones are free and which ones are not. A lot of security vendors have free courses and they give you a "cert". Check out their websites (e.g. Check Point, Palo Alto, Cisco/Meraki, Fortinet, Akamai, Cloudflare, Watchguard, Sonicwall, etc. )...that's a small fraction of what is out there. The CISP is a great cert that is well known...but it is not free or easy.
This was super helpful, thank you!
Venus
Hannah Anderson
Cloud Security Engineering Product Manager
5
Answers
Stephenson, Virginia
Updated
Hannah’s Answer
I landed my first role in information security after receiving my associate of SSCP certification from (ISC)2. I was enrolled in an information security university program, but I had almost zero work experience at that time so I think work experience + a cert would work. You can also show any type of one-off courses or certificate program you would be interested in pursuing without being enrolled in a 4-year program. I took some courses at my local community college for their Network Security certificate while I was studying for the SSCP exam.
Even gathering knowledge on the side through free resources shows that you are committed to learning, developing your area of knowledge, and staying current with a quickly-shifting landscape.
Even gathering knowledge on the side through free resources shows that you are committed to learning, developing your area of knowledge, and staying current with a quickly-shifting landscape.
Thanks for the help.
Venus
Christopher Pardue
Cloud Email Security Engineer
5
Answers
Fort Worth, Texas
Updated
Christopher’s Answer
Here is the path I followed:
Went to community college for a couple years for IT, did not finish my degree, I dropped out.
Got first job in IT.
Got the Security+ certification.
Got the Network+ certification.
Moved up at job.
Found Youtube videos with titles like "How to Grow Up to Be a Pentester" and took notes. Made those my new goals.
Got the CCENT certification.
Started learning and implementing SNORT and other IDS technologies.
Started learning and implementing network models and network monitoring solutions.
----> 1 year mark.
Learned everything I could at work every day, learned PLENTY extra.
Changed to my second job in IT.
Got the CEH certification.
Started studying just the content for a bunch of other certifications, 1hr per week night.
Learned everything I could at work every day, learned PLENTY extra.
Started learning and implementing managed switches.
Started learning and implementing popular firewalls.
Started learning and implementing common Windows Server setups that I saw on the job.
Started playing hacking CTF games every weekend.
----> 2 year mark.
Changed to my third job in IT, in Cybersecurity as a contractor at a #1 tech company.
Slowed down and focused strictly on learning the job.
Learned top to bottom everything there is to know about some specific products.
Kept playing hacking CTF games.
Kept learning extra stuff, started taking way more notes on everything.
Began studying extra certification content again.
----> 3 year mark.
Started writing Python tools.
Changed to my fourth job in IT, in Cybersecurity working directly for the #1 tech company.
----> I am right here in the timeline. I plan to stay where I'm at for many years, leaving only once I have my OSCP certification and get a Pentesting job.
Most of my co-workers do not have an advanced degree and many of them do not have IT certifications, either. However, they have decades of work experience. I will say that if it weren't for the certifications, I would not even know what to google to learn. The certifications helped cram a lot of technical words into my head so that I would know what to google and learn about on my own time.
No matter what you do, just keep moving forward despite whatever obstacles you encounter.
There is ALWAYS a way over, around, under, or through.
If you keep trying, then you will see that this is true.
Went to community college for a couple years for IT, did not finish my degree, I dropped out.
Got first job in IT.
Got the Security+ certification.
Got the Network+ certification.
Moved up at job.
Found Youtube videos with titles like "How to Grow Up to Be a Pentester" and took notes. Made those my new goals.
Got the CCENT certification.
Started learning and implementing SNORT and other IDS technologies.
Started learning and implementing network models and network monitoring solutions.
----> 1 year mark.
Learned everything I could at work every day, learned PLENTY extra.
Changed to my second job in IT.
Got the CEH certification.
Started studying just the content for a bunch of other certifications, 1hr per week night.
Learned everything I could at work every day, learned PLENTY extra.
Started learning and implementing managed switches.
Started learning and implementing popular firewalls.
Started learning and implementing common Windows Server setups that I saw on the job.
Started playing hacking CTF games every weekend.
----> 2 year mark.
Changed to my third job in IT, in Cybersecurity as a contractor at a #1 tech company.
Slowed down and focused strictly on learning the job.
Learned top to bottom everything there is to know about some specific products.
Kept playing hacking CTF games.
Kept learning extra stuff, started taking way more notes on everything.
Began studying extra certification content again.
----> 3 year mark.
Started writing Python tools.
Changed to my fourth job in IT, in Cybersecurity working directly for the #1 tech company.
----> I am right here in the timeline. I plan to stay where I'm at for many years, leaving only once I have my OSCP certification and get a Pentesting job.
Most of my co-workers do not have an advanced degree and many of them do not have IT certifications, either. However, they have decades of work experience. I will say that if it weren't for the certifications, I would not even know what to google to learn. The certifications helped cram a lot of technical words into my head so that I would know what to google and learn about on my own time.
No matter what you do, just keep moving forward despite whatever obstacles you encounter.
There is ALWAYS a way over, around, under, or through.
If you keep trying, then you will see that this is true.
Dhanabal Velliangiri
Principle software engineer
17
Answers
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Updated
Dhanabal’s Answer
Most of the MNCs looks for Bachelor degree with your domain certificate to offer the job, But in freelancing degree is not must have , take some freelancing and get expert with the project and try to post to some smaller companies they might be able to offer you with your experience rather then looking for degree. Good to try!
Thank you for the advice, Dhanabal.
Venus
Ram Kurpad
Lab Support Principal Engineer
8
Answers
Cary, North Carolina
Updated
Ram’s Answer
It would depend on how much you want to put into it. I would be doing you a disservice by telling you "sure, you can do it! go for it!", etc.
There are many alternatives to paying for a 4-Year degree, like Community Colleges, the ROTC program, etc which will help immensely to get that piece of paper which will get you in, after which you hold your future in your hands. And then there is definitely this possibility of beginning to work for an IT company as a Tech and then take advantage of your employer's education assistance in attending college and get your degree that way. I know at least 5 people who are now mid-level engineers, who started as technicians just 4 Years ago.
A college degree may just get your foot in the door, but certification will get you towards your goals faster, especially in an area like CyberSecurity. A CISSP will open many doors, for example. It may even be required once you start working. I seriously doubt if there is a senior level independent consultant who has not spent many many Years in CyberSecurity before reaching that state.
But to think you can completely bypass formal classroom training and better the competition one would face to do the "getting in" would be self-delusional.
There are many alternatives to paying for a 4-Year degree, like Community Colleges, the ROTC program, etc which will help immensely to get that piece of paper which will get you in, after which you hold your future in your hands. And then there is definitely this possibility of beginning to work for an IT company as a Tech and then take advantage of your employer's education assistance in attending college and get your degree that way. I know at least 5 people who are now mid-level engineers, who started as technicians just 4 Years ago.
A college degree may just get your foot in the door, but certification will get you towards your goals faster, especially in an area like CyberSecurity. A CISSP will open many doors, for example. It may even be required once you start working. I seriously doubt if there is a senior level independent consultant who has not spent many many Years in CyberSecurity before reaching that state.
But to think you can completely bypass formal classroom training and better the competition one would face to do the "getting in" would be self-delusional.
Thank you, Ram for the advice.
Venus